


The Dance of Fools

by JanuaryBlue



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, I tried really hard to not make it kind of crack I'm not sure if it snuck in there, Mind Games, Patch 4.4: Prelude in Violet Spoilers, Plotting, Solus thinks in terms of plays, Sometimes I like to think that I'm that smart but there's a reason I don't proofread anything XD, Villain/Hero is the best pairing, WoL and Solus are both super intelligent but in different ways, You know when someone's so smart they do dumb things? Solus and WoL are both that smart, not quite a hateship but close
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-05 16:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16814167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanuaryBlue/pseuds/JanuaryBlue
Summary: Solus soz Galvus is not a man accustomed to having his wishes denied.You, the Warrior of Light, are not accustomed to losing.And so it begins; this game, your dance. You both intend to make fools of each other, and without even trying, you both succeed.





	1. Solus: Trap

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elebuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elebuu/gifts).
  * Inspired by [beginning to flower](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16773376) by [elebuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elebuu/pseuds/elebuu). 



“Why fight back against the darkness?” He croons in your ear from his place behind you, running his arms down your sides in a swift but solid gesture. When his hands get as far down as where your hands were, he grabs them. Idly he traces circles on your palms. He will feel your skin on his own, he promises himself.

Solus cannot help it as his excitement builds with your reply.

“Tis a passing hobby, nothing more,” Your drawl as you turn to face him is a sound he would liken to music, had he not a goal to complete. Now was not the time for flattery – not when you remained uncorrupted still. “It has naught to do with fundamental beliefs in the honor, loyalty, and the value of human life. I cannot imagine a reason to fight against the darkness, truly – who _wouldn’t_ want a world of endless chaos and suffering?”

It is like looking into a mirror, seeing his own scornful face reflected back at him, and having the reflection speak in a different voice entirely. So sarcastic, so derisive! Your face, however, is nothing like his own – a beauty you possessed, Hydaelyn’s Champion of light, unlike any other he had seen. An inner light seemed to radiate from your skin, an echo of power in your every word; whether this is Her Blessing, the Echo, or some other gift entirely unique to you, Solus does not know and does not care to.

All he cares is for that desire. Another thing he sees reflected at him. You are enjoying yourself, lashing out at him, freely able to spit venom now that it is an enemy who stands before you. He is sure your chances to speak so viciously are limited, in the company you normally shared. And surely, the Warrior of Light was not expected to be so casually insulting.

He does so love to play the villain. And it seems you are _just_ his kind of hero.

“Darkness conceals… it protects.” Solus murmurs. Impatiently, he lifts your hands to his own face, feeling the back of your palm against his cheek. The coolness of it is unspeakably pleasant. He will feel more of it, Solus promises himself. Before the day is through, even. “You deride my goal without truly knowing what it is. What His return will truly bring.”

Solus knows what he says is true, and better yet, he knew that you knew it. Your goddess had not told you everything. Even in Her most desperate hour, Hydaelyn kept to Her rules.

“Then tell me.” Your eyes meet his, and Solus cannot help but think they are the most beautiful things he had seen it a while. So vivacious, so filled with defiance, with tempered will and intellect. Like jewels – no, crystals. Bright with a thrill not unlike his own, reflecting the light in glittering brilliance.

If that is what crystals of light looked like, he would not mind possessing one. He cannot help noticing the darkness that passed through your gaze, as though something similar had come into your vision; similar but dark, clouded, and completely outside your current understanding.

“Ah, as much as it would please me to tell the tale whole,” Satisfaction radiates through him at the interest that flickers across your face; you had scented his bait. “We would be here until the Eighth Umbral Era, and far beyond.”

You raise your arms in his hold to break out, but his tightens his grip. All rested on these few critical moments; Solus needed your attention on _him,_ on his offering. Without allowing you a moment to respond, he continues.

“And still I would not mind it.” He gazes down at you with all the imperial majesty and intensity he remembers from his time as the charismatic Emperor. Indeed, if he was to spend this entire Era by your side – Solus would even forgive the Emissary’s waking him. “But the same cannot be said for you, can it?”

“You caught me.” He allows you to shove him away as you speak the words. “I don’t have the time; no one does. There will be no Eighth Umbral Era.”

The strange, bitter tone of your voice – yet defiant all the same. Claiming there would be no Eighth Umbral Era, while recognizing how short-lived you were. Solus wonders how you expect to be able to make good on your promise for a moment, and then he does not. All he needs is for you to accept, and he will learn you.

“You could.” He says the words softly, reverently, knowing the strangeness of it will make you listen. “You could have all the time in the world. You could have forever.”

The look on your face at that is not the best reaction… but neither is it the worst. There is room for détente; you are too curious to turn him down outright.

“I have no wish for an eternal life of servitude to your broken master.” You say in a voice as scathing as it was sweet.

He was learning quickly to love that voice, to dissect everything it said. You meant to taunt him, to anger him into the withdrawal of his offer. A grin creeps up his face; why would you do such a thing, unless you were unable to deny him? The lure is precious, the trap far too tempting; you clearly cannot resist yourself, so you want him to deny it for you.

“You have spoken overmuch with the Emissary, I see. He is _such_ a bore, taking his duties far too seriously, unwavering in his devotion to his so-called balance…” He trails off to allow you to complete the insult in your mind.

The twitch of your lips tells him you share his opinion of Elidibus, so Solus continues, “You will find I am far more tolerant of other beliefs; I have spent longer among mortals than my brethren, and there is much about this world I do enjoy.”

“Not enough to want to save it from destruction.” Accusation coats your voice like poison on a knife. Things he knows well, deflects easily, but cannot dismiss entirely if he wishes to maintain your interest.

Had he gone too far? Solus did not deny he had a penchant for exaggeration. Still, he needed your assent here, your willing descent into the darkness he offered. For what reason mattered not, but he would confess he would prefer you come to him for something more… _interesting_ than an escape from Hydaelyn’s impossible demands.

“I do not call it destruction, and of us two, I am the one who knows the whole of the story.” Solus pulls the greatest move he can, the most powerful trap he could lay. “If you wish to make that judgement, should you not first understand the truth of the situation?”

“And how am I to do that? You said yourself it would take an Era to explain everything.” The frustration in your voice tells him there is a chance; he must expound upon in quickly, before doubt flickers in.

“You can have an Era. You can have every Era, if you wish it. Surely the Emissary has spoke to you of the similarity between our peoples?” He would not ask the question, of course, if he did not already know the answer.

“And **I** told you that I have no intention of serving your purposes.” Though your denial is filled with spite, your brows draw tightly together as you seem to puzzle over his insistence.

It’s charming, Solus thinks, that you look after his motives. But he knew this play would work; however the others bemoaned his need for theatrics, a hero like you would never be able to resist this particular temptation.

“You have no such intentions now.” Solus says, quiet and deep, “But that will change… if you are willing to accept the knowledge I offer.”

“What do you think could possibly change about me?” Your tone betrays true inquisitiveness; Solus is impressed. “You think you can convince me the lives I’ve fought to defend are worthless? Their suffering is of no meaning? Some greater purpose you think you serve is so much more important than the pain of living beings? I think not.”

A hero indeed, and a hero’s speech to go along with it. He could rebut you with a simple denial, insist the mortals of which you spoke _were_ worthless after all – they could not even defend themselves! – but he knows you will not be swayed. Solus had known from the beginning that he dealt with a hero. You would need a different kind of argument.

“You only think that because you do not know.”

“ _You_ only think _that_ because you do not _care._ Your values are different from mine, and no secrets you have will change-”

He interrupts you to stop himself from bursting into a giddy smile; yes, yes, this was _exactly_ what he wanted! Perfectly you played into this. You knew what you wanted from him, you were trying to goad him to say it.

“Yes, they will.” Solus says, and though he does not laugh he still does permit himself to smirk. The expression seems to annoy you, which pleases him all the more.

He can tell it already; his every word had been an insult to your pride as a hero, his suggestion that you might sway from your goal completely unimaginable. He had now, truly, captured your imagination.

“And if they don’t?” Challenge paints your words, darkness creeping into your tone as surely as he hoped to plant it in your heart.

Solus knows he’s won already, that your acceptance is implied now, but for all he loved dramatics, he does not celebrate his victory just yet.

“Then that means **I** am mistaken. My values do not differ so greatly from yours, hero, whatever you may like to believe.” The incredulity in your eyes puts laughter into his next statement, “But I know my judgement is correct. I do what I must; to restore things to their natural state. All as it should be, so to speak.”

“I look forwards, then, to having you explain that line of logic.”

“Nothing would please me more. But first, the Echo – the means by which my kind live the lives they do.” You nod him, curtly.

For the first time he is displeased. Have you nothing to say at that?

No matter. His task is done, his plan set in motion. Full glad Solus was to set off in these games. To his surprise, though, the silence is filled.

You look him in the eyes, unflinching, and Solus knows you intend to demand something from him. You would not let him walk away unscathed, it seemed, determined in your own way to trap him somehow.

“Promise me then, Ascian.” Your eyes are like crystals again, and Solus thinks he sees a glimmer of light long lost, when He first turned against Her, “Swear to me that you will not lie to me.”

He smiles to himself. Well, it would be unfair to do otherwise, in any case. This would make things more interesting.

“I promise.” He swears the oath with ease, an unexpected weight settling on his shoulders before becoming unnoticeable; like a thought resting at the edge of his mind, just out of reach. He brushes it away – what is important here has been done already, he had what he wanted and now he needed only to entice you. Slowly, but surely, or perhaps even all at once – Solus was never one to let an opportunity slip past him.

When he steps towards you again you do not back away, and Solus knows he has you.

Not just yet, perhaps, and not in every way… But you are enraptured all the same, the lure had been taken and you would not leave easily.

Soon, Solus muses to himself as he met your face, ilms away. Soon he’ll have his fill of this precious creature before him. You don’t flinch in the slightest and the look in your eyes sends trills through him, echoing throughout his being like nothing he’d ever felt before. Oh, to have a partner in this dance of fools – to have someone to play against, to watch and admire even as you tore him apart!

To have someone upon whom it would be a pleasure to feast in return… Yes, Solus thinks to himself. In more ways than one he intended to have his fill of you, to carve and keep a piece of your soul for his own, even as you sought to shatter his. He knows his fellow Ascians would fear death, but it does naught for him but to raise the stakes.

And what worthier stakes could there possibly be? The heart and soul of Hydealyn’s one and only Champion, the power and strength of an adventurer without parallel, and the Echo, so rare and strong and rarely understood by Her children. The knowledge he could offer you, the secrets of the Ascian race you surely wished to prize from him, and of course, his own immortal existence.

Let the games begin, Solus thought to himself, bringing his lips against your own, just brushing against them.

Feather-light, a soft tap, a taste to whet your appetite.

Your fingers are brushing in his hair when he pulls away, and to Solus it is a feeling unlike any other. He will remember the slip of your fingertips against his head, Solus knows, and he will feel it once more, soon enough. That you had grasped at him while he made to kiss you – well, he had hardly needed any confirmation of your shared desire.

Still, it was nice to be wanted.

Solus disappears then, dissolving into shadows, unwilling to wait to be dismissed. Far better it would be to have you wonder when he would return, miss his presence and ponder what you and he had said. What would he show you first, what your acceptance would mean, and best of yet, what it was he wanted from this all.

You had of course already realized he wanted to tempt you to his side. Easily you had caught his suggestion that he could be tempted – that he was so certain in his beliefs that any dispute you brought to him would rock him to his core, shudder his foundations. Leave cracks were you could seep into him.

He does not think he would mind that, even. But it would be poor taste for him to plan for the outcomes when he had barely yet begun.

That too, is part of your dance, the game he plays with you. Wondering and curiosity, and soon longing would follow, a steady build towards a foundation Solus fully intends to make use of, once it has been laid.

The moment he’d seen the look in your eyes when you saw him. The moment your acerbic wit had made itself clear.

If an Ascian could be smitten, he had been well and truly captured. All that was left was to capture you in turn. He had won the game already, because you had allowed him to start it. A game, after all, needed players.

All else, the fate of your god and his – minor details, at best.

Solus smiles to himself in the darkness.

Still, he would play to win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What can I say? I saw the minifics and was moved to empathy. I'm a fan of Solus, too; pretty boy, garlean royalty (I won't name any names but... ZENOS), and an Ascian to boot. He's all the right things, but I never took any particular interest in writing for the guy until I saw someone posting tiny drabbles for him, some of them were pretty cute. The thirst is not real until you have to write your own fics for it; good on you, elebuu, for being the change you wish to see in the world! XD 
> 
> And uh, Merry Christmas? Happy Belated Thanksgiving? Solus may or may not have some commonalities with his great-grandson, but I think I did at least a good try at keeping him in character. I make no apologies; though the Ascian and elezen baes are strong in their allure, Zenos alone is my prince. They both are super theatrical, too; Zenos says something about “played my part upon this great stage of fools”, etc. and Solus is just… well, if you’ve seen his introduction, you know he's super melodramatic. Anyways, from one fan of Garlean royalty to another, your thirst-aid, as ordered ;)
> 
> My brand of WoL shipping seems a bit different from yours; I like a cunning, devious WoL who fucks with the villains as much as the villains fuck with you. Helps me vent my inner anger about how passive the WoL always is in cutscenes. Why do we keep letting people walk away from us after we beat them??? Has the WoL literally never learned from Gaius, Elidibus, Regula, Zenos, [insert twenty other side characters here]? Everyone just strolls off after we beat them. You'd think we'd figure it out eventually, but noooo....
> 
> Anyways, I have an Actual Fic that I put horrifying amounts of time and effort into, but wrote this instead. Believe it or not, I have at least three more chapters, or rather chapter ideas, which I may or may not post at some point.


	2. You: Plan

“Why fight back against the darkness?” He croons in your ear from his place behind you, running his arms down your sides in a mockery of comfort.

He grabs at your hands; the gloves he wears are soft against your bare skin. His fingers dance on your palm like liquid pooling in them, only to part and trail off the sides, coolly and indifferently.

The arrogance – honestly, it didn’t even surprise you anymore. Asking the _Warrior of Light_ why it was that you fought against the Dark. Just what kind of response was he expecting?

“Tis a passing hobby, nothing more,” You drone, each word heavy with irony, “It has naught to do with fundamental beliefs in the honor, loyalty, and the value of human life. I cannot imagine a reason to fight against the darkness, truly – who _wouldn’t_ want a world of endless chaos and suffering?”

On the inside, you are confused. This is Solus soz Galvus – the man who founded the Garlean Empire, started his own imperial dynasty, all while secretly being an Ascian and serving their nefarious purposes. You cannot imagine he would be so… so _obviously_ evil. No, there is some deeper meaning to this, some strange nuance to his words that you did not quite understand.

If he is asking after your motivations that he might change them, that would be truly absurd of him. What does Solus think he can do that would change what you had fought gods and armies to protect?

“Darkness conceals… it protects. You deride my goal without truly knowing what it is. What His return will truly bring.”

Solus lifts your hand to his face and the feeling of it is altogether far too comforting; his face is warm against your cold hand, his skin soft and smooth as your fingers brush against it. Inexplicable curiosity shoots through you at the sight of his lips brushing against your fingers; so soft, you want to feel even more of it. When his arms wrap around you, you realize at once you’re being baited.

He wants you to ask, that much is obvious. But was he just like Elidibus, preaching away about your ignorance, only to deny you when you asked him what he meant? Or did Solus actually intend to tell you something? With his attitude and manner, it is hard to know; he speaks as though he is a villain in the play, and he is enjoying the part overmuch.

Whether or not he is making a fool of you, it costs you nothing to hear what he has to say. And even if it is all lies, that too would tell you something: what Solus _wanted_ you to think. The manner of his deception could reveal truths all its own. Decided, you press forward.

“Then tell me.”

You know immediately those are the words he was waiting to hear; you see it in his eyes. They narrow in desire, excitement, and some other unidentifiable emotion. A flash of something you cannot quite name; something as dark and enticing as the man’s smile itself crosses his face and then it is gone, cool confidence settling in alongside driven arrogance.

“Ah, as much as it would please me to tell the tale whole,” Solus’s eyes catch the light, they shine, they _glow,_ glinting gold, “We would be here until the Eighth Umbral Era, and far beyond.”

You raise your arms in his hold to break out, but his grip tightens. What could he possibly mean by this? He had to know his strength could not match yours, if you wanted out of his grasp you could leave – hm. He was testing you, trying to see if you would attack him, unwilling to release your attention and grant you more control of the conversation.

“And still I would not mind it.” You have to look away. You can’t hold his intense gaze; his eyes run over every ilm of your face, the heat of it like fire against your skin. “But the same cannot be said for you, can it?”

His voice is rich and dark, a smooth chocolate as bitter as it is sweet, and as delectable as it was unsatisfying. Leaving only a trace of its existence, his words echo through your mind for but a moment before you must respond. Those eyes, that voice, his _face_ is altogether far too much, far too desirable. It is time to push him away, before this longing got the best of you.

“You caught me.” Temper running high, this time you do shove him away, a gesture Solus does not attempt to resist. “I don’t have the time; no one does. There will be no Eighth Umbral Era.”

You dare him to contradict you. Beg him, almost. Just one reason, he just had to give you one reason. However interesting his game was turning out to be, you had only more and more questions since Solus had started speaking to you – and no answers. Your impatience simmers and grows, but when next you hear his voice your frustration is stopped in its tracks.

“You could.” Liquid gold pours over you, his voice as smooth and drenched in some strange, worshipful adulation as his eyes drink in your form. “You could have all the time in the world. You could have forever.”

Ascians and their secrets. Hydaelyn had told you they labored for their master’s return without cease – but Solus did not strike you as one for endless toil. His tone makes you question that, strikes a chord with Hydealyn’s insistence that the Ascians were devoted to their strange, unknowable designs, certain that their ways transcended mortal understanding.

‘The Gift’, Elidibus had called it. Said if you understood it, you and the Ascians would be ‘of one mind’. Strangely, he did not explain it despite the fact that having you be ‘of one mind’ with him would surely further his plans. You had no wish to continue this conversation if it would descend into such frustrating platitudes. And if it did not…

Well. Then Solus may truly be a threat. Either way, as a hero you were obliged to end this possibility before it even began.

“I have no wish for an eternal life of servitude to your broken master.” Your harsh words to his god you spit out to guarantee his distain; surely even Solus will not tolerate such a slight.

He grins at you, a wicked thing that your heart shudders at. You don’t know why; you do not fear him. And still it seems familiar while reminding you of nothing at all in your memory. As though you had been waiting to see a smile like that, waiting for someone like him to come and try and tempt you.

“You have spoken overmuch with the Emissary, I see. He is _such_ a bore, taking his duties far too seriously, unwavering in his devotion to his so-called balance…” A bore if you were on _his_ side, maybe. To his enemies Elidibus was outright _infuriating,_ taunting you with knowledge and then denying it to you; it was quite clear the Emissary shared only what he wanted you to _think,_ rather than any real truths about the impossible struggle between your respective gods.

It seemed the Ascians derided each other quite often. Lahabrea had certainly not been popular, and now they held disdain for their own Emissary. Having met a number of Ascians, you aren't surprised in the slightest.

Amusement flickering in his eyes, Solus continues, “You will find I am far more tolerant of other beliefs; I have spent longer among mortals than my brethren, and there is much about this world I do enjoy.”

Absurdities upon absurdities. If Solus cared about this world, he would not have caused a Calamity. You knew that he had quite literally been responsible for the fall of Dalamud and Bahamut’s return, and all the suffering that had come of it. Mayhap he enjoyed this world, but he certainly did not _care_ about it.

“Not enough to want to save it from destruction.” You cannot keep the condemnation from your tone and you do not try to.

If he did not know already that this was how you felt, Solus was more a fool than you took him for. You do not think this is the case, however; and so your gaze remains trained on him.

“I do not call it destruction, and of us two, I am the one who knows the whole of the story. If you wish to make that judgement, should you not first understand the truth of the situation?” Golden eyes flicker at you, catching the light and then losing it. His attention is entirely focused on you, despite his arrogance; you can almost hear his anticipation.

You think you know what he means, now. But it is absurd, more akin to a villain in a fantastic tale of good and evil, not something real people used in real life. Tempting _you_ to try and tempt _him_ away from the darkness while _he_ tried to tempt you away from the light – your mind churned at the implications. Would Solus even think of a plot so complicated, much less _try it?_ On _you,_ of all people. And expecting it to work – well.

Annoying Ascians. Perpetually acting like this, veiling their intentions and expecting you to respect them. Revere their nameless purpose as unquestioningly as they do.

“And how am I to do that? You said yourself it would take an Era to explain everything.”

“You can have an Era. You can have every Era, if you wish it. Surely the Emissary has spoken to you of the similarity between our peoples?” The playful lilt to Solus’s voice tells you he knew the answer to that already, besides the unexpected longing it stirs from within.

You try to ignore the amusement building in your chest, the urge to speak tongue in cheek and dance around the subject. This was not the time and certainly not the person for indulging yourself. It would never be the time for that. You were the Warrior of Light, and Solus knows it, and still he says these things.

So he is taunting you. Testing you. Poking and prodding and seeing if you’ll lash out – or accept his invitation to play.

Still, you can’t just let his dismissals pass. You’ve had enough of him acting like this. Solus could not expect to mock the Emissary before you and then get away with acting like him – you would allow no diversions of your differences, no deception regarding your contradicting goals. 

“And **I** told you that I have no intention of serving your purposes.” Even as you say it, you wonder: Solus _knew this_ already. You had _just_ told him.

What game is he playing, what does he hope to achieve by going on about how you would agree with him if you knew what he did?

Just what was it that Solus thought he knew, and how did he think he knew it?

“You have no such intentions now.” Solus says, quiet and deep, “But that will change… if you are willing to accept the knowledge I offer.”

Ah. So that was his play.

“What do you think could possibly change about me?” Your thought you understood… but it never hurt to know more. And Solus was certainly talkative. “You think you can convince me the lives I’ve fought to defend are worthless? Their suffering is of no meaning? Some greater purpose you think you serve is so much more important than the pain of living beings? I think not.”

Clear and decisive, you state your motives. It is his turn – Solus must be honest with you now. If he truly had meant this, if he truly wanted to play, he would have to make obvious what he intended.

“You only think that because you do not know.” So he really does think he can change you. He has to understand this is no trivial undertaking, no

“ _You_ only think _that_ because you do not _care._ Your values are different from mine, and no secrets you have will change-”

“Yes, they will.”

His smirk is altogether annoying, infuriating, and completely irresistible; not only for the beat it made your heart skip. This is a challenge. There can be no doubt.

It was an advanced technique Solus had employed– hard to execute, and rarely successful. He was offering you a part of his own power, gambling that you could not learn it without becoming more like him. You had never personally used it because, frankly, it was the sort of thing only some villain in a play would use.

Strategies so complex rarely worked in real life. The promise of power had to be convincing enough for you to want it in the first place – for someone like you, that promise had to be _astronomical_. For the second part, you had to _actually_ be willing to accept the deal anyways, otherwise Solus may as well have never made it. For the third and final part of his plan, Solus needed to be _right_ about how the power he offered would affect you and your nature.

All three of those things needed to be true for his absurd storybook villain’s plot to work against you. It was the most obvious ploy you’d ever seen – he tempted you, and invited you to try and tempt him. For all his dramatics, all you had to do was turn him down immediately and his carefully contrived coercion would be for naught. The Warrior of Light would be expected to dismiss something this silly, anyways.

Solus knew all that. And he knew that you knew all that.

The problem was – Solus knew this as well – that it didn’t matter. Everyone, Ascian or no, had something that mattered the most to them, something they would do _anything_ for. And Solus, in his silly little games completely devoid of any kind of subtlety, had guessed the key to your soul – your ultimate lever, and when he had that, it didn’t matter if he knew that you knew, and you both knew it.

He had extended an invitation to play; you would rather _die_ than back down. Perhaps Solus thought it was your pride, perhaps he thought you believed you were too much a hero to be tempted, perhaps he knew everything you were thinking and knew you could not resist the challenge. It mattered not, either way.

“And if they don’t?” The words come out darker than they should have, which of course was exactly as you had intended. Let him think his malevolent ways had taken root in your heart. Let him think there was a chance you could be turned to evil.

Real life was rarely so clearly divided, but rarely did not mean never. Solus soz Galvus was the Emperor of Garlemald, the nation that had invaded and terrorized the rest of Hydaelyn for decades, and who had approved of Project Meteor, knowingly dooming Eorzea to another Calamity. Whatever honeyed words Solus would have said about that, those deeds were _evil,_ and to believe otherwise was a fool’s mistake.

When he realized he could not convince you, that true heroes existed in this world, and that the value you placed on people’s lives was sincere even after learning his so-called secrets – then and only then would you know the true heart of the man who stood before you. If he respected you so, and knew that your judgement differed from his, despite all his confidence…

Well, he was unlikely to change as a person, much less change sides. But if nothing else you would have learned something, and making a fool of him was going to be _fun._

“Then that means **I** am mistaken. My values do not differ so greatly from yours, hero, whatever you may like to believe.” His concession, his pretended openness to your values is as transparent as the pleasant lilt to his voice, the pangs of longing it sends through you, “But I know my judgement is correct. I do what I must; to restore things to their natural state. All as it should be, so to speak.”

That pretty face of his, painted with deception; a smile meant to assure, to persuade. More and more words dripping with syrup in that smooth and satisfied voice. Solus holds no doubt, of that much you are certain.

If he expects that to convince you of anything _other_ than that his values **do** differ greatly from yours, and that he is a completely irredeemable villain who possessed no compassion for the suffering he caused, then Solus is severely mistaken. It is unlikely to say the least; he would not misstep so early in the game, you suspect.

So you pretend to take his bait, to care for his fool opinion. If he believes there is anything that will convince you he is wrong. It’s not like you had lied about it.

“I look forwards, then, to having you explain that line of logic.” You look forward to what it is he thinks is so important it will convince you. You look forward to telling him he is wrong.

To seeing that handsome, perpetually smug face contorted in disbelief, to seem his grasp at explanations and monologue like the villain he was – you look forward to it all. In the meantime, you wouldn’t mind having some fun with this Emperor who’d dropped himself in your lap.

“Nothing would please me more. But first, the Echo – the means by which my kind live the lives they do.” Whether or not Solus meant for it, excitement seems to seep into his voice, a pleasant, pleased lilt. No doubt satisfied that his task is complete and he believes he has tempted away the Warrior of Light.

You nod but your thoughts have trailed off somehow. 

Something pulls in your chest, something that told you this is a bad idea – a trap. That you _know_ it is a trap does not change anything; Solus obviously has a plan and fully intends to go through with it. The only thing your _knowing_ can change is how you _react_ to the trap…

Again, from deep within, a pull. A tug. A feeling not unlike any other you’d had before, but incredibly deep, such that you cannot tell where it comes from. If a trap this is, and you are walking into it willingly, there should be something you can leverage, something you can get in return. Balances, the natural order of things – isn’t that what the Ascians were all about?

So little of it all made any sense; Zodiark was the god of Chaos, and it was Hydaelyn who represented Light, and Order. It is only in the Light that anyone can see, can know and understand. And the Ascians claim you live in ignorance, that they alone posses true comprehension of this world’s nature.

In the single honest thought you had towards him, you consider Solus may well be your only chance to grasp at the truth, even if the Ascian himself possessed only slivers, and made you dance for it in his theatrical little games.

All of this does nothing to dissuade you; the force within you guides you silently and surely, something greater than you’ve ever felt before, but impossibly subtly. Coming perhaps, from deep within your own self, as opposed to all your gifts and blessings you had earned and been granted.

“Promise me then, Ascian.” You say, and the power in your own voice shocks you but does not sway you, not for a moment, “Swear to me that you will not lie to me.”

“I promise.” He says, voice assured and dripping with honey.

Solus does not hesitate; you are not sure if this surprises you or not. Either way it strikes a chord in you.

When he steps forward you make no move to stop him, stoic and indifferent as a statue. But you are too stoic; his face is soon ilms away from yours, so close his breath caresses your cheek and you cannot help but wonder what in the Seven Hells you had done to deserve and enemy so _beautiful._

Beautiful, smiling that wicked smile, staring at you with eyes of liquid gold, rich and vibrant and shining with a light that you should not see in a servant of darkness. It is an illusion, surely, like the rest of him; radiant and luxurious and ultimately in the service of a goal that transcended such petty mortal conceits.

When his lips touch yours, you finally close your eyes. Perhaps the servant of darkness was swayed by such conceits after all; still, you are only able to reach for his hair when he pulls away, having merely dusted your lips, feather-light with the sensation of his own.

So soft, you think as your fingers brush his hair. It is violet and regal like all the rest of him, a lock faded to silver the only sign of his age. Soft and smooth and silky like his words, like his games he liked to play.

And then he is gone, as though he had never been there. Like a shadow in the morning light, erased from existence with only his memory as evidence of his being.

Dissonantly, it stung to feel him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What am I doing? Working on Solus fic!  
> What should I be doing? Working on Zenos fi- OH LOOK A NEW WIP  
> I mean, not that much. This is just a re-write of the last chapter from the WoL PoV, and I don't actually have much planned for the near future of this fic. You can consider it a completed work if you want, but I felt bad putting it up as complete when I knew I had ideas for other chapters. Solus might not be super popular, but FFXIV fanfiction isn't super popular, and ya'll know how much I write of that XD
> 
> To those who are enjoying it, this one's for you! I'll see if I can post another part as a Christmas/New Year thing, but after this chapter I really do have to attend a much longer WIP. I also have finals, etc, real life catching up to me. What can you do, eh? This chapter was a pretty quick-and-easy sort of thing, so I figured I'd at least throw it out while I puzzle out the chapter for my longer story.
> 
> That being said, this little story had really opened my eyes about some things. I didn't hesitate much to post the first chapter and I got this second chapter out pretty quick, too, mostly because this ISN'T my long, plot-driven WIP written about my 1000% crush Zenos. I don't have to be as descriptive and specific as I was in that story, and this work is much more vague and directionless; I just get myself the little prompt, throw the characters together, and go nuts with the mind games. I do admit I love mind games  
> .  
> Hope you liked it!


	3. Elidibus: Tied

He watches from afar. When Solus closes distance, whispers to you, makes some intimate gestures and insinuations Elidibus already despairs of.

This was not what he had in mind when he had summoned Solus from slumber. Cow the Garlean Emperor back into line, send the nations of this world on the path of conflict; if there was any hope of that being done now, Elidibus would have to do it himself. He knows already that Solus is completely occupied with his new game. Or is it you that has the former Emperor so enraptured?

He considers it for a moment, then dismisses the idea. Trying to discern Solus’s intentions is akin to carrying water in a sieve. For all his brilliance Solus is a fool in many ways; it seems you have this in common with him. Inevitably his plans will be disrupted, millennia of careful manipulation promptly ruined at the Solus’s whims. 

At most the Emissary could hope that your game with Solus did not interfere with his own plans. That in itself is more than he expects to receive; much of the future relied upon you, the Warrior of Light, being dedicated wholly to your duties and unsuspecting of his machinations. Even that much may well be impossible with Solus as your teacher and confidant.

_“But first, the Echo – the means by which my kind live the lives they do.”_

Elidibus would have to be a fool among fools to believe that meant anything but that Solus would spill their every secret. He would not bother to confront the former Emperor, would not bother to scold him. Nothing would change his course; Solus is surely fixed upon this. Whatever ‘this’ is, Elidibus knows him well enough to tell that he has some strange, grand plan built up in his mind that he intends to enact with you.

He is not sure if he even wants to know what the plan is, or not. With Solus, knowing may only make things worse.

Still, the events that this predicated may be to his advantage. Mayhap you two fools will distract each other while he ‘sets the stage’ – to use a phrase Solus was overfond of. If Solus was not too far gone, he may yet steer you in the proper direction, though that hope would be faint indeed.

If he had been serious, underneath the games, about telling you the secrets of the Echo and why the Ascians acted as they did, could Solus truly…?

Then again, that may not be Solus’s intent. Elidibus is no stranger to mortal delights, though Solus of course has far more experience with such things. That is exactly the problem – he knows Solus is planning something, and Elidibus would have to have been a fool to not see the tension between him and you.

Solus is a creature of desire; that, the Emissary knows to be true. It may well be desire that had driven him to approach you, and less whatever ambitious ideas Solus had been harboring...

In an emulation of Spoken habits, Elidibus sighs slightly. Perhaps his greatest misfortune was that he had reason to wonder what Solus did in bed, and it torments him even now that he has reason to know how far the former Emperor would get with you. Varis and his son had already proven themselves difficult, to say nothing of Solus himself. If the Emperor were to father even _more_ children –

No. Elidibus halts his thoughts, pauses his worries in their place. Solus was foolish, perhaps even fool enough to like that idea – but not so for you. And Solus would surely understand that you would sooner slay him than carry his child. The Emissary did not claim any great personal knowledge of you, but he had studied you well, as was his duty. You had no intentions of childbearing, much less childrearing, and even if Solus were to lay with you there would be no chance of conception.

Clearly the time he had spent preparing for possession, adopting Spoken mannerisms had gone a bit too far, because Elidibus feels himself almost making his body shudder. He is not even surprised by the impulse. What he had done to deserve this, Elidibus is not sure he even wants to know.

Solus is mischievous and willful enough that he might – no. There is no chance. You are no Empress in waiting, born and bred to fill a role and bear and heir; you were an adventurer who lived a dangerous life, not one given to starting a family. The clever, caustic Warrior of Light Elidibus knows would not accept the risk of being made with child, much less caught unawares. He could not imagine you would lie with an Ascian, of all things, without taking some precautions.

…Now he is worrying about _your_ activities in bed. If there is any true despair to be found in his duties as Emissary, it is this.

Even without the threat of offspring from the most successful of his allies and most dangerous of his enemies, Elidibus knows better than to assume all will be well. In the very best of circumstances, he could hope that you and Solus would distract each other, neither meddling in his plans. He would be a fool to expect Solus to be of use any longer. It is not that Solus would be unwilling or unable, but to even _approach_ the former Emperor as he is now would be to risk being dragged into whatever absurd scheme he now played with you.

That Solus may be successful in his absurd attempt to… seduce you, does not merit any consideration. The Emissary did prefer to limit his predictions to outcomes which retained some degree of possibility. As for you convincing Solus to – had he read that part of the conversation correctly?

Elidibus did not oft doubt himself. And yet he does – this is the extent of Solus’s meddling, and he had not even _spoken_ to the Emissary as of late. Solus had almost seemed as though – yes, that much he could be certain was simply a lure to convince you that you might yet convert –

…Upon further pondering, Elidibus could think of no way that you would believe such a thing. It would be plain to you that everything Solus said was meant to tempt you to his side, especially the offer of the secrets he claimed would change your mind. A play on your pride; Solus was fond of such things.

Whether you could be turned to His side was another matter entirely. You had no intentions of being lured, of course, but resolve made in ignorance meant more than Solus might suspect. Plainly Solus expected these plans to go _somewhere._

There are reasons Elidibus does not distribute his knowledge to Warriors of Light, even ones such as you. For all his efforts to be the perfect Emissary, he knows full well how little he is trusted. To give you the truth outright would only make you doubt it. Each discovery you made from then on that confirmed that truth would be tainted, colored by your perception of him and his knowledge. Far better you discover these things on your own, or with gentle, distant guidance, away from Ascian influence.

Only then could you understand the truth that lay at the heart of this star and know what must be done.

Not that this was of any import, now that Solus had seemingly offered these secrets to you freely. Doubt would cloud everything you learned from him, you would search for deception everywhere –

_“Promise me then, Ascian. Swear to me that you will not lie to me.”_

The words sound in his mind without warning, echoing much the same as they had when you originally spoke them. Foreboding as they were, it was not as though Solus would be held to his word. Ascians were servants of Chaos, of Darkness; rules and promises were for Her children, not His. Still the words resonate with him. Your tone, your expression, something in the words themselves… Solus was not the type to bother with such crude things as direct lies, anyways. Subtle manipulation was his game.

The Emissary himself favored more discreet means of deception, as had all their kind. Outright falsehoods were too easy to discover, and once a trust was broken completely the target of the lie would be nearly impossible to influence from then on. Moreover, Solus was wont to take this subtlety to extremes, playing frustrating and obtuse games with whomsoever he pleased.

This grand scheme of his may have naught behind it, mayhap Solus even _knew_ it to be unworkable, and there was no purpose to it but to _tempt_ you to try and foil it by walking into his trap –

But you could have just as easily seen through that yourself, and walked into it anyways, since you stood to lose nothing from Solus’s fool offer – Solus had to have realized that all you needed to do was walk away –

Unless he had expected you to think that, and intentionally put himself at a disadvantage to lure you in. Were that the case, Solus’s plan had worked perfectly.

It the Emissary had not carefully trained his adoption of spoken mannerisms to not make such useless expressions as frowning, he would be frowning.

You were no fool. You had likely realized all of this, and walked into the trap Solus had laid, seamlessly accepting his challenge with a confidence of your own – it had gone perfectly. Mayhap you had seen through Solus’s designs, and intentionally made it appear to him as though his plan had gone seamlessly, but in reality, that was only what you _wanted_ Solus to think.

But having his plan go perfectly was his original purpose in the first place _._ He may know that you wanted him to think that, meaning that he did _not_ think so, but of course with so many subtleties and underlying intentions he would not have told you that. You had walked into Solus’s trap as though it had worked perfectly, which was what _you_ wanted Solus to think, but Solus had seen that and allowed you to believe it, meaning that was what _he_ wanted you to think.

He considers this for a moment, mind churning. Analyzing.

This all bore no meaning lest Solus imagined you to be as intelligent as Elidibus did and was himself as intelligent as expected. With individuals of such intellect involved…

Elidibus did sigh then. You had obviously been pretending to be as intelligent as you thought Solus thought you were, which of course was less intelligent than you were and also less intelligent than Solus believed you were. Which meant you had intended for Solus to realize you were only pretending to hesitate over his offer; you must have known from the start that you would accept.

It would not be so difficult to understand your conversation if Solus hadn’t _also_ been pretending to be less intelligent than you and he both knew he was. Dropping a hint that he might be coerced to the side of the Light – the very idea nearly draws a rare laugh from the Emissary – Solus had made quite clear to you that he was pretending to think that you were less intelligent than you were pretending to be.

He must try quite hard, then, to ensure he does not frown. It is only with a control built up over millennia that he succeeds.

The hint was too obviously absurd for you to accept, and you knew that. And you must have known that Solus would know that. And _Solus_ would know, before dropping the hint, that you would not believe it. The true hint he had given you was that he was only pretending to be so straightforward with his trap. But you would have deduced it was a trap anyways, so the hint should have been unnecessary.

…Following from that – Elidibus cannot but frown, now – Solus had dropped the hint so that you would assume he believed you _needed_ the hint. He could only assume that Solus had meant for you to see the hint and conclude that he thought you a fool, when in reality he had planned for that very occasion.

From the very beginning, you had both been pretending. You pretended that you had some reason to reject his offer – Elidibus knows better than to think you would deny knowledge because you disliked Solus’s morals – and Solus pretended you might reject it. The whole of this line of logic was concerning only the extent of your and Solus’s awareness of the other’s intentions. All Elidibus could gain from unravelling your intricate game with his ally was the knowledge of who was deceiving who.

Either Solus had manipulated you into believing that you had fooled him into thinking his plan had gone perfectly, or you were allowing Solus to believe that while secretly knowing he had not expected his plan to go so. Unless that was exactly what Solus had _wanted_ you to think –

Even ‘twere that so, it was not impossible you had known Solus would see his plan play out perfectly and conclude that you wanted him to think it had. If so, you were only pretending to have been deceived. On the surface it would be impossible to tell if you were being deceived, or merely _pretending_ to be deceived. But the surface did show something nonetheless, and the truth of the situation was that, as powerful as you were, Solus posed little threat to you –

_So,_ you had simply walked into the trap because you _knew_ you had little to lose from it, in which case you were only letting Solus _think_ that his trap had worked –

‘Twas possible that Solus had realized that as well. In which case he knew that you were walking into the trap with full awareness, and his plans had accounted for it –

_Unless_ that was only what _you_ wanted Solus to think.

No. No, this is madness. There had to be an end to the plotting. Had to be. There was no reasoning in this, Solus could not hope to ensnare you with naught but – but these _insinuations_ and power plays. Whatever Solus actually believed was happening during that conversation, you had agreed and your bargain with him was struck. The deal that you would willingly learn Solus’s secrets, despite being told that the knowledge would change you.

Even Solus would not go so far – not with so much at stake –

…It was exactly the sort of thing a storybook villain such as Solus liked to pretend to be would do.

The Emissary allows himself a great sigh, and left. He had plots to attend to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elidibus is dancing with himself XD
> 
> Not as much crack as I had originally imagined, but I guess that suits the work in a general sense. I'm getting really inspired/invested in this work at this point, due in no small part to the WIP that I _should_ be working on but am not. If the line of thought here seemed strange and circular here - it was meant to! Also I got tired of re-writing it! It's really liberating to have a fic like this where I have no long-term plans or investments, only a cluster of chapter ideas and plans to update whenever I've got something good. Very nice.
> 
> I saw the 4.5 trailer and it appears to confirm Solus/WoL as the endgame ship, 10/10 predicted it with this fic. :D


	4. Solus: Longing

Solus soz Galvus. Emperor of Garlemald, founder of the Imperial Lineage, father of an Empire. This cold, cloudy, miserable place does not suit him, but at least his coat is warm, he muses as he stares down at the rest of the city from a foyer with the Vault.

Still, these open vistas, fantastic sprawling architecture filled with dramatic, towering stone buildings – he would not mind more of this in Garlemald.

The Vault especially is just the sort of thing he would have gleefully commissioned back in his days as Emperor, distracting dissidents with perfectly innocuous construction projects, and gaining the goodwill of the masses for the consolidation of his rule. A shame he had done so well – Varis was hardly in need of any such thing.

He sighs, and his breath is visible to him, a white cloud in the air, curling as it leaves his lips.

Really, you had spent _how_ long in this place? He was to believe that you had not only been sheltered by these people, but also befriended them? His eyes wander to a particular house of nobility, one which he had watched a certain dark-haired, terribly beautiful elezen clad in princely garb emerge from so early in this morning it had almost been night.

And that was not even the house that bore the crest you carried. That fanciful unicorn, something that would not be amiss in one of the plays he so enjoyed. A keepsake, perhaps, of your former comrade in arms, the one who had died. Solus heaves a dramatic sigh; it seems the more he learns of your past, the less pleased he is with it.

_You_ already know everything about _his_ past. The whole affair is quite literally an open book, well recorded for Garlean posterity. And what you did not know about him, the secrets of the Asican race and the ways of the Echo, he had even promised to tell you.

He sighs again with all the weariness one would expect form his true age. The years have not been unkind to him, but neither has his restful solitude been particularly interesting.

The opposite of happiness was not sadness, but boredom. To find true pleasure in life, he must ask not what would make him happy, but what would excite him. The sentiment had served Solus well during the more tedious years of his reign, especially as age caught up to him or the annoyance of his obligatory family became too much.

After that had all been said and done he had retired to the rift between worlds, the emptiness between the physical and aethereal realms where his kind made their home… and while not quite boring, it had not been exciting to be left alone with naught but his own thoughts for company.

He had only been relieved at the time, of course, because it was an end to a role he had come to loathe with all his being. An end to his boredom at last - Project Meteor was a terribly dull affair, he was stuck the whole time in bed and did naught but approve it to some subordinate or other.

The object of his interest now, he could not pursue, and so here he is, sulking about Ishgard and examining the place that you had fought for, lived in. Asking you outright about your history might infringe upon the game he played with you. ‘Twould be to his disadvantage if you discovered the depth of his fascination so early in the dance.

Still. The shield bearing the crest of that house, the handsome Lord Commander who Solus had recently discovered owed his position in no small part to your actions.

He would not be _nearly_ as annoyed if you had outright slept with one or the other, but insofar as his… inquiries had led, your relationship with both had been quite platonic as far as anyone had seen. Only rumors such that gossips and romantics could be expected to come up with at the slightest prompting.

Interestingly, he does hear news of your exploits. You are well-beloved in these lands, it seems, and not without reason. Warrior of Light indeed - putting a stop to a thousand years of war. Privately, he considers your greater deed to be putting a stop to that damnable _idiot._ And if it were over a trifling matter such as this one city-state - all the better.

But you did leave this place some time ago and have not returned to Ishgard since, despite the Lord Commander having apparently left the budding republic to aid you in your struggles against his Empire. Solus hears that a number of people are upset with this, given Ishgard’s policy of keeping to itself, and having just gotten out of a war.

With little conscious effort he makes note this for future use. Politics had always been a bore for that very reason, but he would not deign to lower the level of his game to amuse himself with the ingrates that surrounded him.

Of course Solus does not expect to find you here. He has come explicitly because he does not expect to find you here. It would not do to meet you so soon after his original offer.

No, you need time. Time to grow impatient, frustrated. Time to wonder what Solus meant by all he had said, time to dissect his every word and pour over all that had happened in your mind. Again and again you would ponder what had happened, what meaning he actually had, when you would see him next and even whether or not he would actually return again.

You need to become impatient. Impatient as he was.

Only once you had puzzled desperately over this matter would Solus permit himself your company again. He is already at a disadvantage, both you and he know well – he offered knowledge, with nothing in return but the vague hope that the knowledge may change you.

Solus had succeeded at least in intriguing you, in garnering your interest – he would reap the rewards of that immediately, clear the grounds for further sowing.

Now is not the time for riling you; this game is one he means to win. And so he curbs his interest, lounging around in this faraway, freezing nation and poking around your past. It is not as though scolding Varis would have made for a good pastime.

Oh, but you _are_ interesting. Even here, everything Solus hears of you fills him with excitement, with eagerness he must staunchly repress. The Warrior of Light, who ended a war, navigating the political climate of this nation to bring an end to a thousand years of lies, perpetrated on so many.

If you condemn him again Solus will use this in his defense – you could forgive the dragons, who levied pain unto innocent descendants of their enemies, but the Ascians, who served a higher purpose, were irredeemable?

But that would be skipping ahead. He does not yet know what will come of your conversations, and yet he is so terribly eager for them. Ah, how his heart sings out for it even now – to dance with you, tempt you away from your precious friends and pretend to believe that you would be tempted! Watching you fume and scheme as he made challenge after challenge to your heroic pride was pleasure unlike any he had ever experienced.

How he longs to see your face again… Beautiful, trained so very carefully to stoic indifference, watching what flickers of emotion he could tease out onto that perfect blank canvas.

You are impressionable despite your wit, knowing little of the world you have saved time and time again. Grasping eagerly at proffered answers, thrilled that the chance to end your ignorance, and blissfully unaware of what would come of that.

How convinced you are that you could not be swayed! So determined and so clever, the intrepid hero and Warrior of Light sent to save Hydaelyn from all things evil. A hero the likes of which Solus had never seen or heard of in all his years; a hero who was not afraid to bite back, who did not miss his subtle cues and followed his dance with a practiced grace beyond your years.

Oh, it must be fate, his dreams come to life before his eyes – such a powerful and lovely creature as you just waiting for him to capture and tame, walking into his trap of your own volition. He knows, of course, that he is thoroughly enraptured, and in that sense he's already lost.

But he doesn’t have to _tell_ you that, of course. And if you lost before you realized that Solus would deliver the moon and stars at your feet if you merely asked him sweetly enough, well… then you would both win.

Down he looks, tapping his fingers along the railing even as he leaned towards it. Examining the city, such as it is, lighting up for the night as the sun begins to set.

The upper echelons of society are a sight to behold – pleasant lights filtering through clear windows, grandiose and sprawling architecture littering the clean, beautifully cobbled streets. The grander buildings with stained glass – Solus decides he _has_ to have something like that in the Imperial Palace, it is stunning in the sunset.

And more beautiful still as the night falls and the lights from inside shine out, making the patterns on the glass glow clearly in the darkness. He had always been fond of things whose true beauty was so obscured. Visible only in the darkness.

Only upon the very blackest of stages could a light shine to its truest potential; only with the darkest backdrops was the intensity of the stars apparent. A show for Solus to dream of for the rest of his eternity.

His eyes trail from the fine estates of nobility to the extravagant buildings of the Church, towering above the rest of the city as surely as their faith.

From one such building he watches that Lord Commander emerge, well into the night. Solus is almost impressed that the man has avoided dark circles beneath his eyes, for it had surely been ages since last he slept.

It matters not to _him,_ of course; Solus has slept enough for several lifetimes. Perhaps the Elezen could use some. A smile lifts the corners of his lips. Despite how the perfect health the elezen presented with, drowning oneself in work did tend to make a man susceptible to such… _things._

Aymeric, was it? A pleasant name, Solus thinks to himself. Mayhap he will bother to remember it.

An exhaled breath is stark white against the dark stone of the city. Solus would have shivered, if he had been cold. The clasps and medals on his coat, he imagined, were cold as ice, chilled by the air as surely as his breath had been. He wonders a moment what you would think if you felt those medals pressing into your back, freezing points on his otherwise warm body as he pulled you close.

Would you be surprised to find him having stood in the cold? To find that he could tolerate such conditions? Would you shudder at the points of ice, or hold your reaction back and hiss at him?

Perhaps turn around and run your hands over the metal, to see just how cold they really were. He would be pleased to have your hands anywhere on him; it would be easy enough once you reached out to hold your fingers in his own and lead them where he wanted, or simply feel your needy, grasping hands for himself.

Perhaps he would warm them, they would surely be cold after touching such frozen metal. You would relax before him as your hands grow warm, face impassive all the while, ready to jump away at the slightest attack or insult. Searching his face for some hidden meaning even as your fingertips ached with newfound warmth.

Would you guess where he had been? Solus suspects you would. It is good he intends to wait some while longer, he supposes.

He stares forwards at the sunrise, brows raised. Ah, had morning come already? Time did tend to pass so quickly for him. He had learned to let the hours go by when there was nothing to entertain him. How he missed some of his former indulgences – the theatre, the arts, that lovely travelling troupe. He could trouble Varis for a return to form, but now…

Another day, perhaps, or two, but that would go by quickly.

Soon he would have something far worthier of his time and attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solus is the kind of dude who will not call you back after the first date… He’ll be too busy planning the wedding XD 
> 
> Confession: I am not entirely sure I am able to differentiate between Solus and his great-grandson anymore. I know the long-haired one does the hunting metaphors and battle boners, and the other dude gets his kicks by making fun of people. They're both like making speeches and are pretty. Flowery language all over the place, it's amazing. 
> 
> I'm starting to really enjoy writing this fic. A single one-liner like "Solus would love the Ishgardian gothic architecture" turns into a whole chapter all on its own. I have a lot of freedom and no particular word limit or plot goals to meet. Also witty dialogue, hurray! Hope you guys are just as happy to read it as I was to write it!


End file.
